LASER-BASED WAVEGUIDED ILLUMINATION FOR FRONT-LIT LIQUID CRYSTAL ON SILICON DISPLAY

1 . A microdisplay assembly comprising:

(a) a single volume thick hologram based on thin and transparent holographic components (THC) wherein the hologram is angle selective;

(b) a transparent substrate comprising a thickness of about 1-3 mm wherein the hologram is attached to an upper surface of the substrate;

(c) a light source comprising a laser or a narrow band light wherein the light source is attached to or near a side surface of the substrate; and

(d) a reflective-type spatial light modulator wherein the spatial light modulator is attached to a lower surface of the substrate.

2 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein at least one side of the substrate comprises an anti-reflective coating.

3 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a single plate or multiple plates.

4 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the angular selectivity of the hologram comprises at least a 2° angle wherein a diffracted beam reflected from the spatial light modulator is not in Bragg with the hologram to diffract back in the substrate.

5 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein hologram recording parameters are adjusted to reduce sidelobes in a diffractive order and wherein playback wavelengths are adjusted to center a diffractive order.

6 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the hologram transmits diffracted beams forward thereby illuminating the spatial light modulator and wherein beams reflected from the spatial light modulator are not in Bragg with the hologram as diffracted beams.

7 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the spatial light modulator comprises a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) microdisplay.

8 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 further comprising a thin glass wedge located at a top surface of the hologram wherein an air gap exists between the hologram and the glass wedge.

9 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a unitary body or a plurality of bodies made of the same material or different materials.

10 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein one or more edges of the substrate comprise a light absorptive coating.

11 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the spatial light modulator is directly attached to the substrate or comprises a gap relative to the substrate.

12 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein an initial beam passes through the substrate to the hologram and travels through the hologram as a guided beam wherein the guided beam is diffracted by the hologram back through the substrate to an upper surface of the spatial light modulator, which reflects the beam up through the substrate and through the hologram then out to a viewer.

13 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 12 wherein an efficiency of the diffracted beam becomes zero when a playback beam perpendicular to the hologram deviates about 2° angle from a Bragg condition.

14 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a shape matching a shape of the spatial light modulator.

15 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 comprising a monochrome or an RGB (full color) microdisplay.

16 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein a retrieved image comprises a monochrome or an RGB (full color) image.

17 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the hologram first diffracts an expanded guided laser beam to illuminate the spatial light modulator, then a reflected beam passes through the hologram and couples out without diffraction counterpropagating the guided beam.

18 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the LCOS microdisplay comprises color filters.

19 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 wherein the hologram comprises angular and wavelength selectivities to avoid crosstalk of colors.

20 . The microdisplay assembly of claim 1 comprising a field-of-view of at least 30°.